Handmaiden
by Lyn Harkeran
Summary: Thor saves one of his daughters in a moment of weakness. Thor/OC family, love, hurt/comfort. AU (A gift for my dearest friend.)


Sweat and tears slid down her ashen cheeks, as she swayed on her feet. All around her, the violent murmurs grew to a chorus of insults and hateful truths. They were always loud, but now they overwhelmed her.

The battlefield was bloody and full of regrets, and Hannah hated it. With every fiber of her being she loathed this place. _Despaired _in its existence. She hated having to come here, time and time again. But living meant _fighting_, and she still breathed. That and there were still countless demons to face.

The demons were of her own making: the shortcomings, memories, and fears she faced daily. But here in the recesses of her mind, they grew to unfathomable heights and sizes. Here they were ferocious and unrelenting. And _here _they were meant to be extinguished!

Hannah cried out, swinging her sword in a wide arc, before cutting a demon in two. As it fizzled and turned to black sand at her feet, she whirled and blocked an attack from another, using her shield in the nick of time. As the black being slammed against her shield, Hannah grimaced and dug her heels into the ground. Gritting her teeth, she bashed the wooden surface against the brute and forced it backwards. As it staggered away, another immediately lashed at her.

For an eternity, Hannah fought her way through the ranks of vile thoughts. She sliced all that came in her path, but two more always took the slain one's place. Then three more rose. . . Four. . . Five. . . _Six! _

Hannah felt her heart waver as the hordes drew closer. She was growing weak and they could sense it. She slashed wildly, pushing against the demons with all her might. . . But it wasn't enough. They were too strong…

She could hear their whispers of sorrow and disappointment; feel their rancid breath on her neck, while their bleak hands ensnared her heart and soul in shadows. She screamed as she was engulfed by the tide of black, dropping her sword and shield, as she held her head in her hands and cried. They clawed at her flesh, cutting deep and deeper still, and she felt all hope drain from her mind.

She was _alone_.

She was alone, and there was nothing left to believe in. No goodness, or love, or peace left… Nothing but anxiety and fresh agony, ripping open her chest as the demons gorged on her. They took every happy memory and made it poisonous; every tranquil thought bloomed into crippling doubt.

Hannah sobbed, lying on the ground in a heap, as the demons continued their onslaught. But in the end she stopped fighting, and went limp in their grip. She was too tired to go on. . . none of it made a difference. . . _She _didn't make a difference.

Hannah closed her bright eyes and faced oblivion. She stopped thinking as a numb sensation filled her up. And all while the sky faded into umbra shades of heartbreak and desolation.

But just before she could slip away entirely, she felt something cold land on her outstretched hand. At first, the droplet held no meaning. . . but then something familiar flickered in her line of vision. . .

The sky that had seen so dark and cruel now opened into roiling storm clouds. Rain drops pelted downward and hit both Hannah and the demons, soaking them almost instantly. The demons fizzled and wailed as the water touched them, as if it were acid instead of rain. Though to Hannah, the cold of the deluge was peaceful, and made the horrid numbness begin to fade. She could breathe again, but still lay motionless on the ground.

The sudden storm was violent, and soon flashes of lightning and peals of thunder boomed overhead. Hannah's eyes grew misty as she saw a silhouette flying in the center of the storm. Her focus slid in and out, but not before she recognized the being. She could see him reaching for her from the clouds, calling her name as he began to descend.

"RISE, LADY HANNAH!" His voice echoed over the din, masculine and commanding. "TAKE UP YOUR ARMS AND MEET THEM IN BATTLE!"

_I can't_, she longed to call back, but her throat was frozen. Instead she gazed up with streaming eyes and reached for him.

The demons had recovered from the first drops of rain, and now began to grab Hannah again. Hannah screamed as their claw-like fingers stabbed at her legs and arms, but still she couldn't fight back.

But when they reached for her heart again, she finally found her voice.

"_Thor!"_ she cried to the winds. "Help me!"

As soon as his name rushed past her lips, the God of Thunder swooped from the sky and landed beside the woman. With his mighty hammer _Mjölnir _he swatted the demons away, as if they were made of feathers. They flew in all directions, as Thor made quick work of them and turned his attentions back to the woman lying at his feet.

He knelt down beside her, assessing the damage before grimacing and cradling her close. His hands, massive and full of strength, held her gently as he looked at her beautiful, war-stained face. He smiled down at her sadly, letting his thumb flick a piece of ash from her cheek.

"You allowed them to get the better of you, sweet one." When she merely stared at him, he gestured to her forgotten sword and shield, resting a foot or so away. "You are tired, I know. But you must face the darkness. You cannot give into this petty end."

"I can't go on," she whispered, shaking as her tears mixed with the drops of rain. "It's too much, Thor. . . I can't keep fighting them. They never stop coming, and I can never beat them!"

"They come from inside you, Lady Hannah. So in the end you can control them," he contradicted softly. "And you can conquer anything you set your sights on, given the proper belief and effort."

"_N-No_," Hannah wept, clutching onto his forearms. "I can't be _strong_ like you! I can't be what you _want_ me to be. . . even if I want to."

Hannah looked away from his handsome face, hoping the ground would swallow her whole. . . But instead she felt something soft and warm pressing against her forehead. As her eyes focused again, the woman realized that Thor was kissing her forehead. She cried harder as he embraced her and held her tight.

She'd felt alone for so long, that she'd quite forgotten what it felt like to be held. For the first time in an eternity, warmth began to spread back to her limbs and the first flicker of peace rose from her bleeding chest.

"What do I wish you to be, dearest one?" His question caught her off guard, though he never pulled away from their embrace. His lips rested at her ear as he spoke, so that his words reverberated within her a thousand times over.

"I don't know…"

"The only _wish_ I have is for you to remember who you are," he said. "Recall now the past and what brought us together."

"I don't know who I am, Thor." Her hands raked his armor, as she fought the emotions that tempted to overpower her. "And I'm not sure I _want_ to know. I'm tired of everything in my life. I just want it to be _over_."

His grip on her tightened, as he kissed her brow again, saying simply, "Even when I leave the battlefield, it stays nipping at my heels. Would it be any different for my daughter?"

Hannah pulled back to meet his striking eyes, as blue and beautiful as a summer sky. "Am I still your child, Lord Thunderer? After failing and being so weak? . . . After showing you that I'm so … _helpless?" _

A smile quirked at his lips, dancing against his beard. "I see no weakling. Only a warrior that has forgotten what she was fighting for to begin with."

"I fought for _you_," she said without hesitation.

"And," he continued. "For _yourself._"

Hannah was silent for a time, considering his words, before the God of Thunder captured her chin in his thumb and forefinger. As her attention returned to him he spoke again.

"You are a Daughter of Thor, a child of light, and _my_ Handmaiden, Hannah. And as such, you will _never _fight your battles alone. I will lend you my strength whenever you have need of it, just as you offer your heart to me when I have need."

Thor reached out his free hand and grabbed Hannah's sword. It was a beautiful blade of the brightest purple and gray, forged purely in the realm of her mind by her patron God. Hannah had lovingly christened it _Unicorn_ _Horn,_ when Thor had gifted it to her. And now as he laid the pommel in her palm, closing her fingers around the hilt, she felt her admiration for the sword rekindle.

"Will you finish this battle with me, sweet one?"

As Hannah's hand closed around her sword, a surge of power shot through her veins. It was the feeling she always got when she saw a storm and heard thunder. The feeling that she wasn't alone. . . That her patron was watching. That she was _loved_.

"Yes… I'm sorry I gave up, Thor." She felt her resolve harden. "Will you help me stand, please?"

The Thunderer lifted her up in his massive arms, cuddling her for just a moment next to his heart, before placing her on her feet. Before his eyes, her chest wounds began to heal and close. The dark smudges stayed on her flesh, but they no longer sucked the life from her. They were scars from her life, nothing more. They couldn't hurt her anymore, not unless she allowed them too.

As Hannah fingered her blade, Thor tossed the circular shield back into her waiting hand. As she tested the weight again, the God of Thunder waited for a breath before asking, "Is my lovely handmaiden ready?"

Hannah shared an affectionate smile with her Patron God before lowering into her battle stance. "I am, my lord!"

Then, as the demons began to swarm forward, Hannah charged into them, a great cry on her lips as she rent them asunder. And all the while, a great booming laugh could be heard over the clang of metal and the fizz of the shadows being turned to ash.

Some shadows were smashed from the power of _Mjölnir, _while others were slashed by the might of Hannah's _Unicorn Horn. _ But the fact of the matter remained the same. Hannah Amalthea didn't fight her battles alone, nor did she give up…

* * *

**A/N: A story I wrote for a dear friend of mine. She ask that I post it so that others might feel comforted or encouraged. I hope it can help anyone who reads it. You aren't alone, and you do matter. We all do. ^^ **

_**~Lyn **_


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